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Detailed Summary (IC)

Ah, the life of the growing dragon. As this next month begins you’ll find the flutter of your dragon's wings growing ever more restless and their eyes tracking ever more often skywards. It’s a good thing that your teachers are also well aware of such yearnings, and it isn’t long before they’re checked over and if their progress is found good from all those exercises you’ve both been diligently doing (you have been, right?), your dragon will be cleared to take its first flight. It is a moment like no other, and is heavily supervised, but in the end your dragon will be aloft for a few wingbeats, your heart and mind soaring as adrenaline pumps through, breath catching as the ground looms until your lifemate is back again safe upon the ground. It marks a major transition point in your training, and the dragons will practice over the next months taking to the sky several times a day for ever longer intervals. At first they’ll be heavily supervised but as they get used to the sky, the supervision will still be there but less obvious to you both.

Riders as well have their own role in this benchmark, reporting even the smallest talon scratch to the weyrlingmasters. More interestingly you’ll be digging through barrels of old flight suits to find one that fits, or will fit with only minor adjustments. Yes, it won’t be particularly glamorous, but considering the heavy wear and tear it’ll have to put up with while you learn your own part, you’ll find it a practical alternative to wearing holes in brand new leathers that are costly to replace. Additionally, you’ll be getting lessons in the grand art of strap making. While you may, after graduation, barter or purchase ready made straps, for weyrlinghood you’ll have to buckle down and learn at least the basics of this skill. Once you manage to get a passable loop secured about your dragons neck you’ll be able, encouraged even, to ride them (on the ground, mind you) around to help both of you get used to the sensation so that when it comes time to fly together it will hopefully not be so awkward.

Your Life This Week (Briefly)

What's happening with your dragon this week:

Growth:
Although your dragons are now probably telling you they're full size, that's not quite true yet. The DLG tells us that they're 70% of full size at one year of age, and reach full size at 18 months. Therefore, assume that your dragon is still growing a little, slowly now (you wouldn't notice a change from day to day, or even week to week sometimes). So you still need to be on the lookout for hide that needs particular attention as your lifemate grows.

Because we're doing unmounted flight, your dragons might also be a bit sore and sorry, using muscles that never got used before.

Hope you were listening to all those boring talks on imports, exports, major produce, Lord, Ladies and geography! It's test time. Suffer through exams!

Wing Inspections. If your dragon passes their wing inspection (weyrling staff will be looking for any sign of weakness, strained muscles, soreness), then they're good to take to the skies on their own! This'll first happen with a rider at each end, watching their take-off and landing (and a weyrling running nervously in circles on the ground nearby). If that's fine, they'll be taking their first circuits around the bowl, and making their first kills from the air, rather than from the ground as before. We're talking messy, here.

Straps! Your dragon has now out-grown the first, practice set of straps you made, so it's back to the drawing board to make a new set. These will be the ones you keep for good, so make them nice!

RP Ideas

Cramming for tests - moan, panic, attempt to force vast amounts of knowledge into the space between your ears, and retain them long enough to pass.
Wing inspection - if you grab us we'll do it, if you don't, assume it's happened.
More practicing formations - this can be done in a group. Obviously more fun if someone's constantly messing it up and marching in the wrong direction, and someone's trying to read it out of their manual and colliding with people…
Strap making! Why? Because we LOVE gigantic needles, we really do.
You're still running those $%&* fitness circuits you've been made to believe to be so important. Moan, marvel at your new-found fitness, do as you please!
First flights! We'd love to get as many of these on-camera as possible, feel free to snag us, or to RP with an NPC weyrlingmaster observing further attempts after the first.